I wonder if we could finally get them to wear masks if we imprinted a few million with 'WOKE VIRUS FILTER" and sold them. Proceeds to actual thinking, progressive, humane candidates.
Here are my questions/concerns: When does this seemingly never-ending move to the right end for the Republican Party? I am very concerned about the future of the country if it does not do so. This country has by and large benefitted from the two-party system. It has provided stability which has in turn made the United States the most powerful economy in the world and arguably, the most dominant economy since Great Britain dominated 1/4 of the world's population in the late 19th Century. Yet, at least to me, it seems as though Republicans seem more than happy to burn the whole system down, and for what reason? "Owning the Libs"? Unfettered business profits? Turning the country into a real-life equivalent of Margaret Atwood's "Gilead"? I honestly don't get this. I do get that many people in this country feel as though the "elites" in both parties don't answer to them, but how does that play into the sheer cruelty of these anti-trans laws which are spreading across Red States? How does that simmering anger lead to a belief that only ONE side has the right to be in charge? Are we that far gone?
Regression suggests that we made progress. But did we? I have been reading a lot of James Baldwin lately and watching old clips of interviews and speeches. It is starkly evident and frustrating to me that we are replaying the struggles of 60 years ago. He has much he can teach us. We did not learn the first time.
Wow. There was a lot in this 1 post. I can identify with you, though. This stuff has been building up around us for months; and it's invading my brain and taking space that could be used for better purposes. I try to avoid the dysfunction in our society by watching less tv news, even reading less print news; but there is so much dysfunction, that I can't avoid it an y more. Also, I do want to be informed. It's just that there is so much stuff out there and so many people out there who are going so far in the wrong direction, who take their cues from the wrong people and the wrong ideologies, who don't have America's best interests at heart, but really only have their own personal power grabbing ambitions as their focus, and they are the loudest and they are taking over our country. They are taking over our news. They are suffocating us with their misplaced and misguided ideas. They are taking us backward instead of leading us to a better, future America. Ron DeSantis is perhaps the most disappointing of all. We all know about 45. So, anything he does is just: there he goes again; and although it's abhorrent, it's all we cn expect from him. However, DeSantis has a good degree from a good university: Harvard. He is smart enough to know better. Yet, he chooses not to use his knowledge and his education to elevate America. He is tuck in making all of America as broken as he has made FL. The Speaker of the House doesn't merit any time in my rambling, because we knew what we were getting when he made all of those deals to finally get the title Speaker on the 15th vote. He offers nothing. His only goal was to grab power. He is not in Congress to serve the people of America. He is there to feed his own ego. The scary part is that all of these dysfunctional people have lots of followers. I am hoping that there are also lots of Americans who believe differently, who are smarter and wiser and more focused on a better, healthier, kinder, safer, smarter future America. I am hoping that we just don't see these people as well because the dysfunctional ones are louder. And I love your last paragraph about Trump @StevenBeschloss because it is a microcosm, a string point from which all of these other dysfunctional people only interested in themselves GOP folks are. So, I am just cutting and pasting it: Because—and yes, sometimes I feel like a broken record—if he is not eventually held accountable and there are no actual consequences for the criminality, then we cannot repair and move on. But if he is and we can…then we just may escape this seemingly endless time loop. May we see brighter times ahead. America and Americans deserve better. It is going to be an uphill climb because in the past few years our country has been taken down so far. However, I, for one, am not giving up. In my faith, we are not expected to solve every problem out there; but when we see something broken, we are obligated to make a start to try to fix it. I'm going to try. Thank you to our Veterans, and especially this weekend we remember and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. We will not forget you or your values or how you fought for our democracy. God Bless America 🇺🇸
Let's not forget how no real price was paid by Bannon for his role in the harm to privacy and Democracy the Cambridge Analytica / Facebook conspiracy brought to the 2016 election, nor how a judge decided to not implement the sentence a jury arrived at for his Contempt change, leaving him on the streets to wreak more havoc, he is the puppet master behind so much evil shit and if our intelligence agencies aren't seeing that, then they aren't very intelligent and there hasn't been any justice served in his regard.
It’s hard not to get depressed after digesting all of the above.
Convincing the majority of Americans and Electoral College voters that our Democracy is if not outright better than a blossoming form of Fascism, it is at least the “lesser of the two evils”.
Unless we @roll up our sleeves” and fight the fire of MAGA misinformation with the fire of words & pictures, that clearly show what kinds of hell await citizens of color, sexual persuasion, or of a minority religion, we can kiss our Democracy goodbye.
I enjoyed the Raffensberger quote. With friends like Putin, who needs enemies? Meanwhile, it's another lovely day here in New Jersey so I'll be looking for some May beauty.
Both the former president and the current governor of Florida have so many legal challenges facing them, I cannot imagine they will be in the picture one year from now. We all know about the former president's many legal challenges. The governor of Florida is being sued by the State of Massachusetts, NAACP, ACLU, PEN America, Penguin Random House, parents, teachers, and others. Fools will continue to contribute to their campaigns. Their campaigns will spend this money on their outside legal fees, which I believe is a violation of FEC regulations. They would be using the campaign funds for their "personal use" to defend themselves in criminal and civil proceedings. The GOP convention in Milwaukee July 15-18 next year could be even worse than the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago! The mayor of Milwaukee is no Richard J Daley!
Then we have the ongoing debt ceiling crisis. Biden has been very weak on messaging while 81 million of us who voted for him in 2020 are anxiously awaiting a resolution.
I agree with Al Bellenchia. The people running our country have not taken the lessons of history into account. The DOJ is understaffed and lacking in a sense of urgency. The Supreme Court is corrupt. I've lost faith we are ever going to recover from the problems our country is facing.
Sometimes I have to wonder who is in charge of our government. Is it that smoky back room bunch now in the forefront - Gaetz, Greene, Cotton, Hawley - who are pulling the strings of their marionette, Kevin McCarthy whose picture is all over the internet, newspapers, TV news. He who dares say he is fighting for us, stopping socialism, blocking woke culture and over the top spending Democrats? He who is but 6 degrees from separation from each of us and our desires? This 14 times loser who has sold his soul for power?
He seems to be the dominating force in the dispute over the possibility of US default. It's not President Biden. 60% of Americans disapprove of the job he is doing. It is time for him to lose the shades, look the Americans in the eye and tell them what his policies are and why he won't agree to McCarthy's determination to extend the tax cuts for the rich. Let them know he refuses to cut spending for vets, homeless, poor, social security, medicare. Why would Americans be against this humane strategy? Emails asking for donations won't cut it. Time to end the smiley bipartisanship plan and tell Americans what's what and why.
Troubled times in America have happened before. You call it a loop. I call it cyclical as happens to the stock market, real estate. In the past, Lincoln took some pretty big liberties to win the Civil War . Teddy Roosevelt did some pushing to end monopolies. The Great Depression ended with world wide war.
Must we default and go into recession mode to end the inflation that consumes the population, even though jobs would be lost, companies would go under. Would the end justify the means? What's next after this is solved?
As for Putin sanctions against certain Americans entering Russia. Who cares? Who wants to go there?
I suppose trump so he can end the war in 24 hours.Putin came to power under the disguise of furthering Yeltsin's so-so democratic policies. But Putin came up the ranks of KBG in East Germany. And so he remains. He is an evil tyrant killer with arrest warrants out for his arrest for war crimes. He does not care if he kills every Ukrainian or his own Russian citizens, he will have his way. It is against US law for any agency to go after, assassinate any country's leaders. So, now, they just call them terrorists. bin Laden, Diem, Allende, and look at all the plans for offing Castro. Where's the CIA when you need them? It is amazing that Zelenskyy , president of one country, is fighting its heart out against a country that takes up 11% of the world's land mass. Kind of makes you sick when you compare that to the cowardly bunch that run to Mar a Lago to kiss up to the psychopath so he won't call them names. A party of pantywaists.
As for DeSantis, they say he has no charisma, thinks he is God, ruler of schools, children, school boards, attorneys, legislators,women, immigrants plus he eats pudding with his fingers. : ) Nobody stands up to him but Disney. Good for them, pulling out of a billion dollar development in Florida. A mouse is defeating, defying a rat. He won't win. And hopefully, we are not going to "loop" back around to trump. Speaking of Republicans going backwards, unrelevant Jim Jordan getting nowhere with Hunter, now wants to zero in on the Clintons. Pathetic.
Thanks, Steven, for this thoughtful article. I believe people like Trump and DeSantis, and also McCarthy, Greene, Boebert, etc, see the solid block of MAGA voters as an electoral gold mine. I am not sure that those voters can ever be deprogrammed. The key, I think, is to isolate them as much as possible and I think the key to do that is to attack poverty, which would help both poor white people and poor people of color. Also, I believe the Democrats need to be better at highlighting their real successes. I think President Biden has accomplished a great deal during his term, especially given the fractured political climate, and given how things were when he inherited the Covid situation and the associated economic problems from Trump. Those two strategies could help to reduce the MAGA support to the hardcore cult followers and thereby reduce the impact of the MAGA movement. A return to GOP normalcy, a party that you could respectfully disagree with, but not fear would end democracy, is needed to save our country from the evils of despotism, as you have so expertly described.
Thank you for clearly stating how Putin and Bannon are the forces behind what is happening. The goal is to destroy America and turn it into an oligarchy friendly to Russia. The divide between red and blue states gives Putin a foothold right smack in the middle of North America. If the Rs win in 2024, we will pull out of NATO, Russia will take whatever European countries they can run over, the USA becomes a pro-Russia authoritarian oligarchy with the help of anti-Jesus fake Christians, the super wealthy, the NRA, and White Supremacists, and we become hell on earth for everyone else. They will amend the Constitution or throw out our Constitution through a Constitutional Convention resulting in eliminating or repealing the First Amendment. With our bifurcated news system, there is no way to warn any Fox watchers that they are being tricked into voting for a hellish authoritarianism in the name of patriotism. This must get to anyone right of center who will listen so we can stop this madness before we reach that point, which could be the 2024 elections. Past that point, it would take decades of misery and another bloody revolution to get the USA back to what it should be.
I wonder if we could finally get them to wear masks if we imprinted a few million with 'WOKE VIRUS FILTER" and sold them. Proceeds to actual thinking, progressive, humane candidates.
Here are my questions/concerns: When does this seemingly never-ending move to the right end for the Republican Party? I am very concerned about the future of the country if it does not do so. This country has by and large benefitted from the two-party system. It has provided stability which has in turn made the United States the most powerful economy in the world and arguably, the most dominant economy since Great Britain dominated 1/4 of the world's population in the late 19th Century. Yet, at least to me, it seems as though Republicans seem more than happy to burn the whole system down, and for what reason? "Owning the Libs"? Unfettered business profits? Turning the country into a real-life equivalent of Margaret Atwood's "Gilead"? I honestly don't get this. I do get that many people in this country feel as though the "elites" in both parties don't answer to them, but how does that play into the sheer cruelty of these anti-trans laws which are spreading across Red States? How does that simmering anger lead to a belief that only ONE side has the right to be in charge? Are we that far gone?
Regression suggests that we made progress. But did we? I have been reading a lot of James Baldwin lately and watching old clips of interviews and speeches. It is starkly evident and frustrating to me that we are replaying the struggles of 60 years ago. He has much he can teach us. We did not learn the first time.
Wow. There was a lot in this 1 post. I can identify with you, though. This stuff has been building up around us for months; and it's invading my brain and taking space that could be used for better purposes. I try to avoid the dysfunction in our society by watching less tv news, even reading less print news; but there is so much dysfunction, that I can't avoid it an y more. Also, I do want to be informed. It's just that there is so much stuff out there and so many people out there who are going so far in the wrong direction, who take their cues from the wrong people and the wrong ideologies, who don't have America's best interests at heart, but really only have their own personal power grabbing ambitions as their focus, and they are the loudest and they are taking over our country. They are taking over our news. They are suffocating us with their misplaced and misguided ideas. They are taking us backward instead of leading us to a better, future America. Ron DeSantis is perhaps the most disappointing of all. We all know about 45. So, anything he does is just: there he goes again; and although it's abhorrent, it's all we cn expect from him. However, DeSantis has a good degree from a good university: Harvard. He is smart enough to know better. Yet, he chooses not to use his knowledge and his education to elevate America. He is tuck in making all of America as broken as he has made FL. The Speaker of the House doesn't merit any time in my rambling, because we knew what we were getting when he made all of those deals to finally get the title Speaker on the 15th vote. He offers nothing. His only goal was to grab power. He is not in Congress to serve the people of America. He is there to feed his own ego. The scary part is that all of these dysfunctional people have lots of followers. I am hoping that there are also lots of Americans who believe differently, who are smarter and wiser and more focused on a better, healthier, kinder, safer, smarter future America. I am hoping that we just don't see these people as well because the dysfunctional ones are louder. And I love your last paragraph about Trump @StevenBeschloss because it is a microcosm, a string point from which all of these other dysfunctional people only interested in themselves GOP folks are. So, I am just cutting and pasting it: Because—and yes, sometimes I feel like a broken record—if he is not eventually held accountable and there are no actual consequences for the criminality, then we cannot repair and move on. But if he is and we can…then we just may escape this seemingly endless time loop. May we see brighter times ahead. America and Americans deserve better. It is going to be an uphill climb because in the past few years our country has been taken down so far. However, I, for one, am not giving up. In my faith, we are not expected to solve every problem out there; but when we see something broken, we are obligated to make a start to try to fix it. I'm going to try. Thank you to our Veterans, and especially this weekend we remember and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. We will not forget you or your values or how you fought for our democracy. God Bless America 🇺🇸
Let's not forget how no real price was paid by Bannon for his role in the harm to privacy and Democracy the Cambridge Analytica / Facebook conspiracy brought to the 2016 election, nor how a judge decided to not implement the sentence a jury arrived at for his Contempt change, leaving him on the streets to wreak more havoc, he is the puppet master behind so much evil shit and if our intelligence agencies aren't seeing that, then they aren't very intelligent and there hasn't been any justice served in his regard.
It’s hard not to get depressed after digesting all of the above.
Convincing the majority of Americans and Electoral College voters that our Democracy is if not outright better than a blossoming form of Fascism, it is at least the “lesser of the two evils”.
Unless we @roll up our sleeves” and fight the fire of MAGA misinformation with the fire of words & pictures, that clearly show what kinds of hell await citizens of color, sexual persuasion, or of a minority religion, we can kiss our Democracy goodbye.
I enjoyed the Raffensberger quote. With friends like Putin, who needs enemies? Meanwhile, it's another lovely day here in New Jersey so I'll be looking for some May beauty.
Both the former president and the current governor of Florida have so many legal challenges facing them, I cannot imagine they will be in the picture one year from now. We all know about the former president's many legal challenges. The governor of Florida is being sued by the State of Massachusetts, NAACP, ACLU, PEN America, Penguin Random House, parents, teachers, and others. Fools will continue to contribute to their campaigns. Their campaigns will spend this money on their outside legal fees, which I believe is a violation of FEC regulations. They would be using the campaign funds for their "personal use" to defend themselves in criminal and civil proceedings. The GOP convention in Milwaukee July 15-18 next year could be even worse than the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago! The mayor of Milwaukee is no Richard J Daley!
Then we have the ongoing debt ceiling crisis. Biden has been very weak on messaging while 81 million of us who voted for him in 2020 are anxiously awaiting a resolution.
I agree with Al Bellenchia. The people running our country have not taken the lessons of history into account. The DOJ is understaffed and lacking in a sense of urgency. The Supreme Court is corrupt. I've lost faith we are ever going to recover from the problems our country is facing.
Ron DeSantis reminds me of Dopey, one of the seven dwarves
Let it be so!
Wow
Tell it like it is!
Sometimes I have to wonder who is in charge of our government. Is it that smoky back room bunch now in the forefront - Gaetz, Greene, Cotton, Hawley - who are pulling the strings of their marionette, Kevin McCarthy whose picture is all over the internet, newspapers, TV news. He who dares say he is fighting for us, stopping socialism, blocking woke culture and over the top spending Democrats? He who is but 6 degrees from separation from each of us and our desires? This 14 times loser who has sold his soul for power?
He seems to be the dominating force in the dispute over the possibility of US default. It's not President Biden. 60% of Americans disapprove of the job he is doing. It is time for him to lose the shades, look the Americans in the eye and tell them what his policies are and why he won't agree to McCarthy's determination to extend the tax cuts for the rich. Let them know he refuses to cut spending for vets, homeless, poor, social security, medicare. Why would Americans be against this humane strategy? Emails asking for donations won't cut it. Time to end the smiley bipartisanship plan and tell Americans what's what and why.
Troubled times in America have happened before. You call it a loop. I call it cyclical as happens to the stock market, real estate. In the past, Lincoln took some pretty big liberties to win the Civil War . Teddy Roosevelt did some pushing to end monopolies. The Great Depression ended with world wide war.
Must we default and go into recession mode to end the inflation that consumes the population, even though jobs would be lost, companies would go under. Would the end justify the means? What's next after this is solved?
As for Putin sanctions against certain Americans entering Russia. Who cares? Who wants to go there?
I suppose trump so he can end the war in 24 hours.Putin came to power under the disguise of furthering Yeltsin's so-so democratic policies. But Putin came up the ranks of KBG in East Germany. And so he remains. He is an evil tyrant killer with arrest warrants out for his arrest for war crimes. He does not care if he kills every Ukrainian or his own Russian citizens, he will have his way. It is against US law for any agency to go after, assassinate any country's leaders. So, now, they just call them terrorists. bin Laden, Diem, Allende, and look at all the plans for offing Castro. Where's the CIA when you need them? It is amazing that Zelenskyy , president of one country, is fighting its heart out against a country that takes up 11% of the world's land mass. Kind of makes you sick when you compare that to the cowardly bunch that run to Mar a Lago to kiss up to the psychopath so he won't call them names. A party of pantywaists.
As for DeSantis, they say he has no charisma, thinks he is God, ruler of schools, children, school boards, attorneys, legislators,women, immigrants plus he eats pudding with his fingers. : ) Nobody stands up to him but Disney. Good for them, pulling out of a billion dollar development in Florida. A mouse is defeating, defying a rat. He won't win. And hopefully, we are not going to "loop" back around to trump. Speaking of Republicans going backwards, unrelevant Jim Jordan getting nowhere with Hunter, now wants to zero in on the Clintons. Pathetic.
Thanks, Steven, for this thoughtful article. I believe people like Trump and DeSantis, and also McCarthy, Greene, Boebert, etc, see the solid block of MAGA voters as an electoral gold mine. I am not sure that those voters can ever be deprogrammed. The key, I think, is to isolate them as much as possible and I think the key to do that is to attack poverty, which would help both poor white people and poor people of color. Also, I believe the Democrats need to be better at highlighting their real successes. I think President Biden has accomplished a great deal during his term, especially given the fractured political climate, and given how things were when he inherited the Covid situation and the associated economic problems from Trump. Those two strategies could help to reduce the MAGA support to the hardcore cult followers and thereby reduce the impact of the MAGA movement. A return to GOP normalcy, a party that you could respectfully disagree with, but not fear would end democracy, is needed to save our country from the evils of despotism, as you have so expertly described.
Thank you for clearly stating how Putin and Bannon are the forces behind what is happening. The goal is to destroy America and turn it into an oligarchy friendly to Russia. The divide between red and blue states gives Putin a foothold right smack in the middle of North America. If the Rs win in 2024, we will pull out of NATO, Russia will take whatever European countries they can run over, the USA becomes a pro-Russia authoritarian oligarchy with the help of anti-Jesus fake Christians, the super wealthy, the NRA, and White Supremacists, and we become hell on earth for everyone else. They will amend the Constitution or throw out our Constitution through a Constitutional Convention resulting in eliminating or repealing the First Amendment. With our bifurcated news system, there is no way to warn any Fox watchers that they are being tricked into voting for a hellish authoritarianism in the name of patriotism. This must get to anyone right of center who will listen so we can stop this madness before we reach that point, which could be the 2024 elections. Past that point, it would take decades of misery and another bloody revolution to get the USA back to what it should be.